Hamas warns Gaza hostages could share fate of missing Israeli pilot
Hamas’ armed wing on Saturday published “farewell” photographs of most of the remaining hostages in Gaza, warning that Israel’s expanding ground assault on Gaza City could endanger their lives. The group invoked the case of Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator missing since 1986 after being shot down over Lebanon, whose fate remains unresolved decades later. Hostages at risk Of the 251 people seized during Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 whom the Israeli military has declared dead. “Due to (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s obstinacy and (military chief Eyal) Zamir’s submission… a farewell photograph taken at the start of the operation in Gaza City,” the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades wrote on Telegram alongside the images. The militants released 46 photographs of hostages, each labelled with the name “Ron Arad,” a symbolic warning of possible […]